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The Best Darn Toy News On The Web!Tue, 31 Mar 2015 17:23:43 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1Mattel Update – Clarifying 2014 Subs – What Happens if We Don’t Hit The Goalhttp://www.actionfigureinsider.com/mattel-update-clarifying-2014-subs-what-happens-if-we-dont-hit-the-goal/
http://www.actionfigureinsider.com/mattel-update-clarifying-2014-subs-what-happens-if-we-dont-hit-the-goal/#commentsFri, 26 Jul 2013 20:31:54 +0000http://www.actionfigureinsider.com/?p=89268I’m never sure why we have to cover the same ground and ask the same questions year over year with the Mattel subscriptions. I keep seeing people posting about “scare tactics” and the meter being a “marketing tool.” The conspiracy theorists are out in full force. I get fans wanting to know the full line up of the subs each year. I want to know the full line ups too, but I understand why we don’t get that information from Mattel. We are so deep into the bench roster on both MOTUC and DCSC that if you show all 12 then everyone starts making the decisions of how many figures are “enough” for you to subscribe? It’s all the Law of Diminishing Returns and NO ONE is going to be happy with all 12 figures.

These collector lines are unique and aren’t like other lines that are at mass retail. These are individual adult collector figures, offered on a monthly basis mailed directly to the consumers. And these figures are done in much smaller runs than the stuff you find at mass retail. No one else is doing this sort of thing. YES, there have been hiccups, snags and failures along the way. Yes, Digital River contributes greatly to the madness. But at the end of the day most of us love getting new interpertations of these characters done in a 6″ scale by the Four Horsemen. There are also other actual legitimate logistical reasons for Mattel doing this how they do it.

All this is my long-winded soap box-y way of saying that today Scott “Toy Guru” Neitlich went to the MattyCollector.com message boards to try to further explain how the sub has to work in order to move forward and what will happen if they don’t meet the minimums for each sub:

MOTU and DCSC fans,

I’ve seen a lot of emails and posts over the last few days about the meter and reaction to my post on Facebook yesterday that we are still tracking below expectations. Let me see if I can clear up some common questions.

1:The meter is 100% accurate. It is not a scare tactic. It was designed as a communication tool to let fans/customers know how close or far we are from the sub happening.

2:If the meter is not hit, what will likely happen is the 4 figures that are already tool’d (the ones revealed at SDCC) will be released quarterly and perhapes an item at SDCC. After that, that will be it. End of story. It is not a scare tactic, it is a truthful statement. MOTUC and in fact everything we do on Matty is a tiny tiny spec for Mattel. We continue to make these great toys because we love our fans, we love these brands and we want to keep them going. But the raw facts are in today’s market we simply can’t keep these high end low run collector lines going with out guaranteed customers. That is why we have the presale sub and the meter to communicate how far along we are.

3:We can’t reveal additional figures simply because we don’t have anyone far enough along to reveal. We can only reveal a figure after an internal milestone called “FPR” (Final product review). We revealed eveything at SDCC that had made it to this stage. Counting the “sneak peaks” at the panel and in the case on Sunday, we’ve revealed 5/12 monthly figures. So customers know about 1/2 of the entire year at this point! The reason we don’t reveal more figures is because we don’t want to show something that might not happen. For example, in the DC brand, a few retail figures were shown at NYTF in Feb. like Damien Wayne and a new Batman Beyond that were canceled. Have you seen the posts about this? The last thing we want to do is reveal a figure that might not happen. That is a lot worse, believe me. That is why we don’t reveal figures that have not made it to FPR stage internally. We don’t want to show something that might not happen or be changed. We need to wait until FPR stage to reveal.

4: A lot of the issues last year like QC and CS have really been tackled head on as promised. Combine that with our sub portal letting you easily change addresses or make adjustments as well as a new quarterly shipping option that will help save on overall shipping. Shipping is an area we just don’t have as much control over, but we are doing everything we can and by offering a hold and ship quarterly option you will be able to save.

5: Again, I know fans want to see the entire year, but this is the 4th or 5th year of doing this.You guys know the drill and as noted above the reasons why we can’t show further figs. They just aren’t far enough along. And really, in today’s market, the customers we need to keep all of the subs (and the Ecto 1) going are customers that are “all in” no matter what. It really shouldn’t matter which figures we are doing, the type of customer needed to keep the line going, the customer that is the life blood of these lines is the type of MOTU (or DC) customer who wants anyone no matter what. In today’s market we just can’t build a line around cherry pickers. Subscribing isn’t just about the bonuses of subing in like the Unnamed One, Early Access or less expensive figureds ($25 vs $27 day of). Sub’ing in is about supporting all of the figures and ensuring the line itself goes forward. The question is do we have enough of this type of customer? I think so! We did in 2011-2013!

6: We have indeed re worked the line up and as seen by our reveals at SDCC 23014 is packed full of A list charcters. No concept figures like the FFM or Vykron. 2014 and ideally 2015 will be all the figs we want to complete the line including vintage MOTU, vintage POP, A list NA figs and A list figs from other media like mini comics or animated series. The SDCC reveals should have confirmed this.

So to wrap up, I promise this is not a scare tactic or a roller coaster ride. The meters are 100% accurate and show the sub in level. Without hitting our goal, likely we will just release the first 4 figures and call it a day.We just can’t keep these lines going without locked in support anymore.

Hope this helps. If anyone is not sub’ing in and you have a sepecific reason, please post here or over in Ask Matty MOTU/DC and I’ll do all I can to address your questions.

Getting 2014 to happen will take all of us and a combined effort. No one wants to see MOTUC go away, but without the min number of sub holders, that is a very realistic possibilty. Not a scare tactic, not a marketing gimick, just us being as open and honest with our customers as possible!

Hope this helps! We can do this! I know we can! If everyone from 2011-2013 subs in we are golden. That is all it takes!

]]>http://www.actionfigureinsider.com/mattel-update-clarifying-2014-subs-what-happens-if-we-dont-hit-the-goal/feed/21Mattel Update: Ecto-1 & 2014 MOTUC and DCSC Subscriptionshttp://www.actionfigureinsider.com/mattel-update-ecto-1-2014-motuc-and-dcsc-subscriptions/
http://www.actionfigureinsider.com/mattel-update-ecto-1-2014-motuc-and-dcsc-subscriptions/#commentsThu, 25 Jul 2013 23:43:25 +0000http://www.actionfigureinsider.com/?p=89195As a DCUC fan it seems like every year it’s the same story for the subscriptions. They don’t look like they will fund for weeks on end and then the last possible day they shoot up and it goes through…usually. We’ve also seen subs and products NOT fund before such as the Ghostbusters sub and the 6″ Young Justice 2-pack. It does happen. And here we are again. MOTUC is doing the best so far but it still has a long way to go. DC and the Ecto-1 have a much longer road ahead of them. Mattel sent out an update today about the subs and how they will… or won’t work:

Matty Fans,

Just got back from San Diego Comic Con. We had an AMAZING show showing off the rest of our 2013 line up and huge sneak peaks of our 2014 lines including the subscription figures for Club Eternia, Club Infinite Earth and our Ecto 1 presale.

With that in mind, I wanted to clarify for fans where we are and where we hope to go. A lot of folks have been asking about the meters for the different subs and the Ecto 1 presale. Some asking if they are just “marketing gimmicks” or flash and substance filler. The straight and narrow is they are not. They are 100% indicators of where the subs and the presale currently are. While not updated daily, as they are updated on a semi weekly basis the meters do show the current status and are designed really to be a communication tool for our customers to explain and illustrate where each sub level/presale is.

The bottom line; if we do not hit the minimum for tier 1 for both subs and the minimum for Ecto 1, these lines and items will likely not happen. A lot has changed in the toy industry over the last few years. Factors like labor, raw materials and transportation have skyrocketed and in order to continue bringing collectors high end Mattycollector toy lines we are really at a point of being subscription and presale dependent. This isn’t 2004, or even 2008 anymore!

At this time, both of the 2014 subs and the Ecto 1 presale are quite below our expectations. We want nothing more than to see both clubs and the amazing Ghostbusters vehicle move forward. But we can’t do that if we don’t hit the bottom level of sub holders. This is very similar to “Kickstarter” campaigns. Only for the subs and Ecto 1, due to the logistics of the toy making process, we need to lock in our quota and customer base early before we start spending on tooling and other fixed costs.

Because of this, Aug 19th is the DEADLINE for both subs and hitting the bare minimum on the Ecto 1. While we hope to keep the Ecto 1 presale open longer after Aug 19th to gain additional presales, if we don’t hit the minimum by Aug 19th, the Ecto 1 will also close down.

So now is your time! Glimmer! Aquaman! Two Bad! Superboy! Ecto 1! These meters are not a marketing gimmick, they are our way of offering open honest communication to let our customers know how each sub presale is going. Please help spread the word! We only have a few short weeks to make these great toys happen. I’d hate to wrap things up in 2013, but if the subs and the Ecto 1 don’t hit the minimum we may not be going forward. Remember after all what happened to the Ghostbuster 6” Club and even the Superboy/Miss Martian YJ pack. When the minimum presale is not met, we just can’t go forward.

Aug 19th will be here before we know it! Let’s get out there, spread the word, blog, socialize and let everyone know where to sign up for some of the best collector toys out there!